Tim Harford asks if the World Cup is really responsible for migrant deaths in Qatar.
Start the Week - Saul Bellow and Finding a Voice
On Start the Week Andrew Marr talks to Zachary Leader about the life and work of Saul Bellow, one of America's most famous novelists. Bellow's vivid prose and mix of high and low culture brought 20th century America to life. Linda Grant reflects on his significance for writers today and on the literature of immigration he represents. Aeschylus' play cycle The Oresteia brought to the stage a world the Ancient Greeks understood only too well - family drama and bloody politics. In a new production Robert Icke radically re-imagines the play for a modern audience. The rapper Speech DeBelle looks back at what inspired her to find her voice, and the challenge to retain it.
Producer: Luke Mulhall.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS MoreOrLess: John Nash
On 23 May, the mathematician John Nash was killed in a car crash, alongside his wife Alicia. The couple were in their 80s. Professor Nash was on his way home from Norway after receiving the prestigious Abel prize for mathematics. He also won the Nobel memorial prize in economics in 1994, and was made famous far beyond academia when he was played by Russell Crowe in the film, A Beautiful Mind. Tim Harford takes a look back at his life with economist Peyton Young who knew Nash well. Tim also looks at how many species of owl there are. A much more difficult question to answer than you would think.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Seven-day NHS
This week: Seven Day NHS. As a commitment appears in the Queen's Speech to introduce a 'truly seven day-a-week NHS' we look at David Cameron's assertion that mortality rates are 16% higher for people admitted on a Sunday over those admitted on a Wednesday. And is seven day working really about saving lives.
John Nash The mathematician and scientist, Nobel Laureate and subject of the film a beautiful mind was killed in car accident earlier this month. We look at why he was so important to game theory.
Productivity? We're told we have a productivity problem in the UK. What is it, how is it measured and why is it so low in the UK compared to other economies. We get an economist to explain the answers to a listener.
What is a generation? A loyal listener has asked how you measure a generation. We ask a sociologist and a demographer.
Animal Slaughter How many animals are killed each day for food? One claim suggested it was half a billion worldwide, which sounds like a lot to us. Are we really pigging out to such an extent? Are we all so hungry we could all eat a horse? Or is this just a load of bull?
Start the Week - Hay Festival
Start the Week is at the Hay Festival for a discussion about what has made homo sapiens so successful. The historian Yuval Noah Harari looks back a hundred thousand years ago when at least six human species inhabited the earth and explores why only one came to dominate. Science was a key breakthrough and Beth Shapiro pushes at the limits of knowledge with her book on how to clone a mammoth. The writer Colm Tóibín reveals how much he owes past writers in his introduction to the enigmatic American poet, Elizabeth Bishop, while Owen Sheers explores the themes of loss and redemption in his latest novel. Producer: Katy Hickman.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS MoreOrLess: Death Penalty
Death Row exoneration statistics. Recently it?s been claimed that for every nine people executed in the US, one person has been exonerated. Is this true ? and do the statistics vary state to state?
More or Less: Behind the Stats - Female Drink Drivers
The Police Federation says female drivers aren?t heeding the drink drive warnings. Tim Harford attempts to find out the numbers behind this. Plus: the Rotterdam Effect; Death Row exonerations; pub closures; and owl counting.
Start the Week - Joseph Stiglitz and Steve Hilton on Inequality
On Start the Week Andrew Marr finds out if it's possible to create a world less impersonal and more equal. David Cameron's former senior adviser, Steve Hilton, believes our governments and institutions are too big, and he argues for a more human-focused society. The US economist Joseph Stiglitz tackles rising inequality in the West and blames the unjust and misguided priorities of neoliberalism. The Russian writer Masha Gessen looks at the struggle between assimilation and alienation as she asks why two brothers turned terrorist, bombing the Boston Marathon.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
Start the Week - Joseph Stiglitz and Steve Hilton on Inequality
On Start the Week Andrew Marr finds out if it's possible to create a world less impersonal and more equal. David Cameron's former senior adviser, Steve Hilton, believes our governments and institutions are too big, and he argues for a more human-focused society. The US economist Joseph Stiglitz tackles rising inequality in the West and blames the unjust and misguided priorities of neoliberalism. The Russian writer Masha Gessen looks at the struggle between assimilation and alienation as she asks why two brothers turned terrorist, bombing the Boston Marathon.
Producer: Katy Hickman.
More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS MoreOrLess: Big Numbers
How computers are fooled by big numbers. Chris Baraniuk, technology journalist, talks about the simple software bug that has led to explosions, missing space probes, and more. Plus, an update on the two mothers-to-be whose due dates we analysed earlier on in the year.